A Quiet Run

This morning, I strapped on my MP3 player in preparation for a 6-mile run. I clicked the Power slide with no results. I pulled the player out of its armband home to see an empty battery icon on the face. Frustrating. I must have left it on after Saturday's run. So this morning's run was very quiet--and uneventful. A quick 6 miles and my run was over.

Saturday's run with the Runner's World group, and specifically, with the FOB 4, was a little more eventful. We started out at a surprisingly quick clip on this first long run in October. We ended up running all through the Downtown, Utica, and Woodward areas, including a slight detour that kept us on the city streets toward the end of the run. My legs were again really stiff and fatigued at the start, but this was shaken off within a few miles. The path included some good hills, and the pace remained pretty fast, so by the time we finished, I definitely felt as though I had been challenged. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our pace was well below the 9 min./mile mark. I don't know that I'll be able to sustain that for this weekend's 20-miler, nor for the upcoming marathons, but it was a respectable training pace anyway.

I ended up running on Friday last week, since it was storming Thursday morning. The rain would have been nice, but the lightning would not have, so I decided to wait. I ended September with just over 145 miles--the most I have logged in a month since I began running. Still a far stretch from the 200+ miles I see Tatur Dave logging, but I'm getting there!

It looks like cold weather really is upon us. I wore tights Friday and Saturday with temperatures in the low to mid 40's. This was nice practice, since I'll probably be running at least 2 of my upcoming marathons in tights. I'm glad to get in a few long runs before Nov. 1 in the garb I will most likely be wearing on race days.

10-5-09
Distance: 6.04 miles
Time: 50:16
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:19
Rabbit count: 0
Possum count: 1

10-3-09
Distance: 15 miles
Time: 2:11:22
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:46

10-2-09
Distance: 6.02 miles
Time: 52:01
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:47

9-30-09
Distance: 8 miles
Time: 1:07:19
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:24